The posting of the 1885 Nebraska Federal Census on Ancestry.com piqued
my interest. This census was taken in a limited number of states and is an excellent
source given the unavailability of the 1890 United States Federal Census. One
of my "problem people" was in Nebraska during that time period and
I decided to try and locate him in the 1885 census.

The 1885 Census-Brief BackgroundAn act of 3 March 1879 allowed any state to take an interdecennial census
with partial federal reimbursement. Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, and the Dakota
and New Mexico territories returned 1885 schedules to the Interior Department.
The 1885 censuses discussed in this article are federal, not state censuses.
The questions asked on the 1885 census are similar to those asked in the 1880
federal census. There's more on the 1885 census at the end of this article.

My ProblemI did not have a lot to go on. My problem person was a Tamme Focken Tammen
born in Velde, Ostfriesland, Germany in 1856. His parents and some siblings
are known to have remained in Germany. Tamme's parents are known to have remained
in Velde after his birth and since there is no entry for him in the church records
after his christening, I decided it was likely he emigrated from the area. He
might have stayed in Germany but married someone from a neighboring village
or he might have emigrated altogether.

A potential connection to Tamme was discovered when I viewed the homestead records
of my forebear Frank (Focke) Goldenstein from Dawson County, Nebraska. A Tamme
Tammen is listed as a neighbor. This appeared to be an excellent lead. Frank
Goldenstein's mother, Tjode, was a sister to the Tamme Tammen from Velde that
I was looking for. It pays to keep an eye out for the neighbors. Tamme, Frank's
uncle, might have been the Tamme, Frank's neighbor. The unusual nature of the
name is not sufficient to establish the connection one hundred percent. More
work had to be done.

Finding Him In The 1885 CensusI decided to give the 1885 Nebraska census index at Ancestry.com a try.
It took me some time to find Tamme in the census index and even then I was not
certain I had the right individual. There were several factors that increased
the level of difficulty in this case.

Tamme did not speak English.

Tamme's first name is not an English language name.

original handwriting is difficult to read.

Not Speaking EnglishResearching non-English speakers in English language records requires an
understanding of how names are pronounced by someone familiar with the language.
This may be difficult to do if there are few that speak the language or dialect
today. I was fortunate that even though I am not fluent in "Platt"
(the low-German dialect Tamme likely spoke), I did grow up in an area where
many of the names were pronounced the "correct" way. This knowledge
is considerably valuable but not something every researcher will have before
their research begins. There are some ways one can learn. In this case, there
are even some Platt dictionaries that provide pronunciations of typical words
and armed with those pronunciations one can develop a reasonable idea of how
names are likely pronounced. One can also subscribe to an appropriate mailing
list (http://lists.rootsweb.com ) and
ask how certain names or words would be pronounced. (This is something I have
done with much success while working on my wife's French-Canadian lines, an
area I was not familiar with before I started that research).

Not An English Last NameSometimes non-English language names are anglicized. Determining the translation
can be difficult and many names do not even have a literal translation. The
first name, Tamme, was frequently anglicized as Thomas or Tom. Some names have
common anglicizations and some do not. There is a page of common Ostfriesen
first name anglicizations at www.summitsoftware.com/Ostfriesen/given.htm.
Researchers looking for individuals from other non-English speaking areas should
search for similar pages at www.google.com
or considering posting requests for information about such pages or sites to
the appropriate mailing list at Rootsweb (http://lists.rootsweb.com
). Any such lists must be considered partial as there are always exceptions.
But while searching for Tamme, I'll keep the name Tom in mind.

The Handwriting Is Difficult To ReadEven if an index indicates the handwriting was difficult to read, the researcher
cannot know what the original looked like until the original is accessed. However,
while using the index, it is necessary for me to remember that the original
record was handwritten. Consequently handwriting interpretations are a consideration.
It might even be helpful for me to write the name I'm searching for in several
different ways (emphasizing my sloppy handwriting). Then try and read the names
or have someone else try and read it.

How I SearchedEntering "Tamme" as the first name and "Tammen" as the
last name in the search boxes did not bring about the desired result. It took
some looking and some experimentation to locate an entry that I thought had
a reasonable chance of being Tamme. I made the decision that the last name was
likely so incorrect, either in the original record or in the index, that I would
not be able to locate the entry using a last name.

The search interface for the 1885 Nebraska State Census allows the user to search on the given name, surname, and keywords. My successful
entries in the search box were:

Given name:
Tome Tamme had not located any good matches.

Keywords:
Dawsonfor Dawson County Nebraska where Tamme likely lived.
Germanyfor Tamme's place of birth. (I was hoping that Germany was listed as
the place of birth instead of Hanover or Prussia as sometimes happens with people
from this area.)

When this search was performed, there was only one match. Viewing this entry
in context revealed another entry: Acke Temerson.

The index entry is a starting point, not an end in and of itself. My next step
was to obtain a copy of the actual record.

Getting The Original CensusThe 1885 Nebraska census is on microfilm, and I accessed the census via
the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The name on the original
1885 Nebraska Census is difficult to read and Temerson is a reasonable rendering
of the handwriting. I might have seen it as "Tammen" since that's
what I was looking for, but if I had never heard of the name "Tammen"
I'm not certain that is how I would have read the entry. I also don't think
that "Tammen" is what the census taker wrote down in the first place.
Readers who want to see the image for themselves can view it at: http://www.rootdig.com/census/

Acke is listed as Tom's wife. Obtaining the relationship was helpful, because
the relationship to head of household is not included in the index. The household
directly before Tom is one for a John Griswold, also born in Germany. Being
familiar with some of the surnames in the area, I was wondering if the surname
was Gronewold instead of Griswold. Fortunately, I have another 1885 census schedule
that will contain some of these names and will allow me to compare the surnames
between the two census schedules. The other census schedule is the 1885 agricultural
census.

The 1885 Agricultural CensusThe 1885 population schedule was not the only schedule that was created.
In my particular case, the agricultural schedule was also relevant. I obtained
the 1885 agricultural census entry for Tamme as well. The only problem is that
the rendering of the name is apparently not the same on the population census
as it is on the agricultural census. It was helpful to list a few of Tamme's
neighbors from both schedules.

Given that the census was taken in neighborhoods and from one farm to another,
the order should be roughly the same. Except for the Gronewold and Tammen entries
in the agricultural census, the names are a match. The agricultural census entry
helped confirm my suspicions about the Griswold entry. The entry for Talman
F. Tammen is a fairly close one to the man I was looking for, Tamme F. Tammen.

Is This My Man?The agricultural census was extra significant in this case as the rendering
of the name was different and a middle initial was used. This indicates that
more follow-up research needs to be done on Tamme/Tom Tammen in Dawson County
Nebraska. A search of the Dawson County Nebraska GenWeb page revealed another
original record I need to obtain. The site contains a groom's index to marriages
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ne/dawson/marriage/groomtz.txt
that revealed an interesting entry for "Tammen, Tamme F. and Boreherts,
Eke" (marriage book 1, page 211). The site indicates how the actual record
can be obtainedsomething I have added to my list. Additional records should
be utilized in my search for Tamme, but I think I'll make this one my next step.

1885 Federal Census Finding AidsThe links below contain information on the various 1885 schedules. Researchers
are encouraged to view these sites and the National Archives website (www.nara.gov
) for more information on obtaining copies of these records.

National Archives Publication Numbers
M158 Schedules of the Colorado State Census of 1885 (8 rolls)
M845 Schedules of the Florida State Census of 1885 (13 rolls)
M352 Schedules of the Nebraska State Census of 1885 (56 rolls)
M846 Schedules of the New Mexico Territory Census of 1885 (6 rolls)

1885 Dakota TerritoryThe 1885 Dakota Territory Census is available on microfilm from the Institute
for Regional Studies at North Dakota State University (Microfilm HA631 1885
.D34).

Lessons Learned (or remembered):

Be creative when using the index.

the original record.

certain you get everything-additional or underused records may be especially
significant in your case.

Michael John Neill, is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical Institute
of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield, Illinois, and is also on
the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the
Web columnist for the FGS FORUM and is on the editorial board of the Illinois
State Genealogical Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars and lectures on a
wide variety of genealogical and computer topics and contributes to several
genealogical publications, including Ancestry and Genealogical Computing. You
can e-mail him at: mjnrootdig@myfamily.com
or visit his website at: www.rootdig.com/,
but he regrets that he is unable to assist with personal research.